Help - Quick ...

[Pizazz]

I have a 37 tall that I have been using a quarantine tank. The centerbrace fell in the water tonight, dumping the light in the tank also. Turned off electricity, removed light and measured the tank ... it is bowing.

Question is what to do ... I have two fish in there that are "miscellaneous gobies" - they look like Neons - but a little different shape and bigger. They have only been in there 10 days and the big one is bullying the smaller one. I have not seen either one eat.

I was thinking of splitting them up and putting one in each of the semi-friendly reef tanks (226 and 120), but am concerned about ich etc.

I have a 20L that I could transfer to but think with less space I will have a bigger problem ??? What should I do? How much time do I have before I have 37 gallons of water on the floor?

Will be checking here ... or can reach me at 512-372-9273 (Austin) - yep, will be up for a while.

Thanks.

[Ross]

Since no one has answered yet, i will give a shot. I would take the gobies out and put them both in the 20l qtine tank. Use a piece of glass or plastic or anything that won't harm your water to keep them seperated. I would definetly NOT add them to the big tank because they might have ich like you said. HTH

[Instar]

You can make a brace out of something quick to replace the top brace. Get a piece of wood, like a good quality 2x4 and notch it. Leave plenty of overhang. You can also tape it using duct tape across the top to keep it from bowing, but, the tape will stretch and slip over time. You can pile some books up along side it. Best to drain about half the water out to reduce the pressure and transfer to another tank. You can divide the 20 long for QT. Cabinet makers often have clamps that will work across the top of the tank or you can make a brace out of PVC pipe with an elbow on each end. Slip it over the tank top rim. You may be able to get a clamp from a WalMart at this hour. Drain some water before you head out.

[Henry]

How much is the tank bowing?

Move the fish into the 20gal, using something like eggcrate to seperate the fish.

did your lights cause your center brace to fail, ie was the silicone all yellow and dry?

[dan]

i think your bigger problem is that 37 gal.on the floor.drain it now. if you have to you can take the fish to lfs tomorrow or just tranfer to 20 gal.

[Pizazz]

Thanks to all for your quick replies. And also to those of you who posted recently about the 100+ gallon bowing tank. I wouldn't have known how serious this could be.

The fish are safely in their smaller quarantine tank. I did divide it and also covered most of it.

I don't trust my ability to brace the tank, but thank you Larry for the instructions. The 37 gallon tank is drained. The bowing was about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch and the sillicone looked fine, not yellow or flaky. Anyone want a 37 gal tall?

P.S. I was at a party Saturday night with someone whose family had a 500 gallon Cichlid tank built by a family friend. The tank started bowing so the "friend" braced it (you can see where this is going) and a week later the family heard loud popping ... their braces, soon followed by 500 gallons of water and fish. Wow.

Thanks again!

[Instar]

Is that 37 tall free since its "damaged"? If so, I'll take it. I can use things like that for my breeding and culture tanks.

[matt]

After a conversation (mostly in spanish, so it was pretty simple) with the guy who makes the tanks at aqua trends, apparently most tank sizes will do fine without the centerbrace, and for others it really is a necessity. There are only a few thicknesses of glass, and as tanks get bigger, the glass jumps up in thickness at certain sizes. If a tank is near the large end of the spectrum for a given glass thickness, it's inherently weaker. He told me my 100 gallon would have easily lasted a year or more without the centerbrace; it's 3/8" glass and there are a couple of sizes up that use this thickness. But who wants to take the chance? I had thought that 100 gallon was the biggest with 3/8" glass, and that's why I QUICKLY replaced it. If your 37 is the same glass as a 29, which I think is the same as a 25 and a 20 long, then you're looking at a big tank for it's glass thickness and you did the right thing. The reason the centerbraces fall, I guess, is because the tanks start to bow; it's more like the tank holds the brace in place, rather than vice-versa. Silicone has terrible tensile strength, and that's what's holding that brace on ususally. Sometimes there's a hard plastic strip that is bonded to the top plastic trim.

Anyhow, I hope the gobies are okay. If there's a problem with aggression, you could easily put a divider in the 20 long.

[DeletedAccount]

Are these engineer gobies? Look lik a cross between a neon goby and a small eel? If they are being aggressive n the QT then it is because they are diggers and like to live in the sand

[DeletedAccount]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=165

Engineer goby

[Pizazz]

The gobies are looking good although I still have not seen either of them eat. They swam thru the divider and are on the same side of the tank this morning. They look more like neons than engineers, but they are bigger than the neons I have seen ... about 2" and the head shape may be a little different. They have light blue stripes that go the length of their bodies and the smaller one hangs vertically on a fake plant or sits on top of the power head while the bigger one prefers a hole in one of the rocks. They have another 10 days left in quarantine and I have tried feeding brine, mysis, enriched brine, and some power mix .... any thoughts?

Larry - you are welcome to the tank if you can pick it up soon (the next 3 or 4 days?) I measured it again and the middle and right side are 1/8" wider than the left side. I would worry about flooding --- and yes Matt I think it is the same thickness as a 20L.

I will try to get my digital camera charged and see if I can get a picture of one of the gobies.